DPRK: War's end can't be bargaining chip for denuclearization

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The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said on Tuesday that declaring the end of the 1950-53 Korean War "can never be a bargaining chip" for getting it denuclearised, and the country "will not particularly hope for it" if the US does not want the end of the war, according to state media KCNA.

In a joint statement with president of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Moon Jae-in in their Pyongyang summit last month, DPRK leader Kim Jong Un expressed a willingness to "permanently dismantle" the Yongbyon nuclear complex if the US takes corresponding action.

Moon said this would include a declaration of an official end to the war.

A giant banner at Seoul City Hall showing a picture of the summit handshake between ROK's president Moon Jae-in and DPRK's leader Kim Jong Un, Sept. 13, 2018. /VCG Photo

KCNA said on Tuesday that declaring the war's end should have "been resolved half a century ago," and called it "the most basic and primary process for the establishment of new DPRK-US relations and peace" on the Korean Peninsula "to which the US was also committed."

At their unprecedented summit in June, US President Donald Trump and Kim agreed in broad terms to "build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula."

However, Washington wants the DPRK to first provide a complete inventory of its weapons programs and take irreversible steps to give up its arsenal.

KCNA said the Yongbyon nuclear facility, which the DPRK expressed a willingness to take offline if the US takes corresponding action, "is a core one for its nuclear program."

"The DPRK is taking substantial and crucial steps to implement the joint statement made at the DPRK-US summit, but the US is still trying to subdue someone by resorting to sanctions," KCNA said.

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Source(s): Reuters